


Mother's day

by Slant



Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Mother's Day, Orphans, Outer Senshi Family, Parent-Child Relationship, Slice of Life, just so many orphans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:27:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 2,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24770857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Slant/pseuds/Slant
Summary: It's Mother's day, and Mamoru and Rei have asked Makoto and Hotaru if they want to do the grave visits with them this year.
Relationships: Chiba Mamoru & Hino Rei
Kudos: 5





	1. Haruka and Michiru

It was the second Sunday in May, so Hotaru Tomoe woke early. She had a lot to do. Three bunches of flowers for the house. A bunch of red carnations for Michiru-mama with a card in her best calligraphy; it was traditional and homemade and she would appreciate the performance of middle class pretension. Minimalist with a spray of ferns for Haruka-papa, who liked to be seen to like simplicity. A deliberately childish bunch of wildflowers for Setsuna-mama; Wisteria and Creeping Phlox and the honestly slightly alarming blue of Nemophila.

She put the other bouquets by the door and went to the kitchen. Haruka-papa had set out on a run about an hour ago and should be back soon, and Michiru-mama would come down for a cup of coffee, and Setsuna-mama would roll in slightly later from night-shift at the observatory. Haruka and Setsuna would get Tamagoyaki; absolutely nothing good could come of someone else meddling with Michiru's espresso machine, so she was on her own there. 

Hotaru did not anticipate any issues for the rest of her plans for the day, which was what the fourth and fifth bouquets were for. Michiru would never allow family squabbles reach the point where statements as ruinous as "Kaolinite-evil-never-actually-step-mama always let me visit Keiko-mama for Mother's day" could be deployed. It was too graceless. 

Haruka pulled up in a needlessly theatrical spray of gravel, and Hotaru put the first omelette in the pan; it was hissing nicely by the time Haruka got in.  
"Good morning."  
"Hi Haruka-papa. I made breakfast, to say. You know. Thank you for being my parent."  
Haruka's face did something and no words seemed to be available; Hotaru knew that Haruka did not cope well with sincerely expressed feelings, so she was unsurprised when Haruka held up a paper cup from the gym cafe and said  
"Do you want to take credit for this Hotaru-chan?"  
Hotaru's eye's lit up. "Oh that's perfect. I didn't dare," She gestured at the espresso machine, "thank you."  
Haruka's eyes twinkled. "I don't dare either. And I can't tell if Michi can't tell the difference of if she's being nice or if she likes how they make it at the cafe as a change."  
"She can tell," said Hotaru. She took the paper cup and set it on the table, then climbed up on a chair to get the cups down, and decanted into china.

Haruka sat down and Hotaru served. Noises upstairs indicated that Michiru was awake. Hotaru speculated that she looked less then perfect for about two minutes after waking up, but that no one had ever seen this, except Haruka, who was blinded by love. She put a second omelette on the stove. If it was done before Setsuna got home, she'd eat it herself.

"So what are the rest of you plans for the day, Firefly?"  
"Chiba-san will come and pick me up and with Hino-san and Kino-san. We will be visiting each others' mothers all day," said Hotaru.  
"Oh," said Haruka, "that's a lot."  
"Yes," said Hotaru, "It always is. I think we will all find it easier for being with other people this year, though."  
Haruka cast around desperately for a change of topic, and then realised that that is what Haruka's own parents would have done, and said, "I don't know what to say, but that doesn't mean you aren't welcome to share things like this with me whenever you like. Would you like a hug?"  
Which is how Michiru found them. Haruka pulled away from the hug to greet her; Hotaru rolled her eyes and dished up her omelette while their kiss concluded.  
"Good morning, we contrived to get your coffee. I wanted to do breakfast for everyone to say thank you." said Hotaru, once Michiru's attention was available again.  
"I see that you got flowers for all your other parents, too. These are lovely by the way, thank you," said Michiru, sniffing deeply at her bouquet.  
"No, nothing for Souichi-papa today." Hotaru had an alarming number of parents, even without reviving the memories of her Silver Millennium lives.  
"Of course. Did Haruka agree to drive you?"  
"Mmumph," offered Haruka, mouth full of omelette.  
"Chiba-san offered. We're having a day of it with the other orphans."  
Michiru nodded gracefully. "Of course. It's important to connect with your friends like that."


	2. Setsuna

Setsuna got home, pulling up rather more sedately on the drive in a car which could plausibly have been bought on a postdoc's salary. She looked like someone who had finished her sixth twelve-hour shift running a telescope in the last week.  
"Welcome home Setsuna-mama. Sit down and have an omelette."  
"Oh. Thank you Hotaru-chan. I'm really tired."  
"Do you need me to fetch anything form the car before you can go to bed? Any other chores you need help with?" Hotaru knew that smoothing the path between Setsuna and bed when she was working shifts was the best form of caring.   
"No that's fine. What brought this on?"  
"It's Mother's day, so thank you. For everything. I've put your flowers in a vase in your room."  
"Oh I lost track of the date."  
" _I_ lost track of the date. Oh dear."  
"I'll go to bed now."  
"Sleep well Setsuna-mama."


	3. Team dork

Hotaru trotted down the long drive to where Mamoru was waiting in his car with Rei and Makoto.  
"Hi Hotaru-chan," said Mamoru, "welcome to Team Orphan."  
"I'm sorry Hotaru-chan," said Rei, "I tried to talk him out of being an awkward dork, but here we are."  
"I can be more awkward than that. Rei-sama, please stand with me as family on this day."  
Rei glared at him. Using his complete trust and respect for her to win an argument like that was. Well. It was going to be completely successful, and she'd reciprocate, and she loved him like a brother, but she wasn't going to not be angry about it.  
"Fine! I already talked with grandpa about it and you're completely welcome always."  
"It's okay if you want us to wait outside the cemeteries, Hotaru-chan," said Makoto, "or if you want to invite us further in. You don't have to choose now. Everyone is welcome to come with me as family too."


	4. Chiba-san

Rei and Mamoru cleaned the marker and pulled weeds together. Last year, Rei had hung back on her own, and approached after the cleaning and offerings, which is what Makoto and Hotaru were doing now. 

"Hello Mom," said Mamoru, "I brought flowers. They're a rose cultivar that I've been working on with Yoshiki-san. I don't remember if they were your favorite. I still don't remember anything."  
"I. I've been remembering other things, though. Things that didn't happen or happened a long time ago. A whole other life, and ...," he hesitated. It was sort of mawkish, even if it was literally true, but Hotaru probably needed to hear it, "I'm sorry. I remember these other parents and it feels like I'm letting you down. I remember loving them, and I knew them. I don't even remember you. I try to. I've talked to family friends but its all second hand. I'm sorry."  
"These are Hotaru-chan and Makoto-san. They're spending the day with me and Rei-san."  
"We've all been through a lot together, and some of it we can't tell other people. Of all our friends, we're the only ones who can tell our parents what we've done."


	5. Kino-san

Makoko was not the only one visiting family. A lot of the Flight 123 victims were buried in neighboring graves and she recognised a few of them from previous years.

As Makoto saw Mori-san approach her, she suddenly realised that the kind old lady who had last talked to her so nicely five years ago might just be on the hunt for gossip. Maybe it was her who had changed, that the years on her own had made her cynical, or maybe it was that years of people staring at you as a troublemaker made you better able to recognise the look.  
"Hello Mori-san," she greeted warmly, "It is nice to see you again."  
"I almost didn't recognise you dear, you've grown so much. And who are these young persons?"  
"These are some of my friends, Rei-san, Hotaru-san and Mamoru-san" Makoto said. She was quietly proud of ignoring the height comment and not offering any further information about how they'd met. Mori-san didn't need to be told. 

...

When Mori-san left, Hotaru said "I don't think you need to be so formal with me Makoto-san."  
"Not at all. Please feel free to call me Mako, unless we are in front of a dreadful old gossip, in which case, use anything up to Kino-sama, your call. I _am_ the head of my household, after all. My household is five succulents and a spider-plant."  
Hotaru giggled. "I thought it was that, but I... I get uncertain, sometimes.


	6. Risa Hino

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At last, someone with a named parent :)

"Hino-san," said Hotaru, "forgive me if it is too personal, but why is Hino-sama's grave in a church?"  
"Yeah," said Makoto, "it's "born Shinto, marry Christian, die Buddhist"."  
"Fight in the name of Jove of the thunders," added Hotaru, impishly.  
Makoto giggled.  
Rei grimaced, "I don't like talking about it, but it's because of that man. He thought a Christian burial was more modern."  
"Oh. I am sorry Hino-san."  
"It's not your fault Hotaru-chan," said Rei. She managed an unconvincing smile.  
"It still makes me so angry, but it has been better, the last few years," said Rei. She looked at Mamoru, "thanks, dork."  
She looked at the others. "And thank you to you too."

...

"I want a Christian wedding," said Makoto, dreamily, as they left the church "I saw the best spring flower arrangements last week."  
"That business with the ghost brides didn't put you off the whole thing then?" asked Rai.  
"Ha! if that happens, they win. Now I have to have a wedding, more than ever," Makoto punched the air in determination.  
"A wedding cake is mixed from the batter of maiden's dreams!" She nudged Mamoru, who lurched slightly "Right?"  
They looked at Mamoru, who was staring off into the middle distance.  
"Are you okay, Mamoru?" demanded Rai.  
"It's fine."  
"If your not responding to all that, it's not fine. Spill."  
"This is Rei-chan showing she cares," stage-whispered Makoto to Hotaru, "It's not a fight."  
"This doesn't go outside Team Orphan, okay?" said Mamoru. He hesitated, and then lined up his points so he was least likely trigger anyone's "protect Usagi" reflex, "Usagi talks like that, and I don't know if I'm ready for marriage yet. Someday, sure, and certainly to no one else."  
Makoto burst out laughing, "I want a wedding, not to get married!"  
"You're so serious Mamoru-san," said Hotaru, lightly.  
Eventually, Rei took pity on his bewildered expression.  
"It's a giant party where you get to wear the prettiest dress, eat a cake bigger than you are and everyone has to congratulate you. None of them is thinking about the husband part."  
""Them", Rei-chan? are you better than us all of a sudden?" asked Makoto, lightly.  
"There's no time for marriage when your going to be an international CEO/ idol," said Rei, with towering confidence, "you have to be realistic about these things."


	7. Kaolinite

"You all fought against her," said Hotaru, "that makes you practically family already. You'd best come in."  
The gravestone received a entirely formal splash, and Hotaru put the cheapest bunch of flowers from the metro vending machine in the little flower-and-incense holder.  
"Hi Kaolinite-evil-never-actually-step-mama-san," said Hotaru, "I never actually knew you, but that's sort of my fault that you weren't you, and it's also sort of my fault that you died."  
"I wasn't as grateful as I could be when you did do things right. Was that you? The real you, I mean? Those times that you were kind? I like to think so. I like to think that I'd have resented you for taking my Papa away even if we weren't all full of monsters."  
"Do you think we could have been a real dysfunctional family like that?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I initially wrote "garage forecourt flowers", but then remembered that we are in Japan. I am very proud to this contribution to the language of flowers (flowers from a vending machine mean "I don't care but I'm going to make a minimum effort, to show how little I care.")


	8. Keiko Tomoe

Hotaru kept it together through formally washing the gravestone, and with her permission, Makoto helped weed around the grave. Then she went to pieces. She suddenly looked years younger as she wailed "Mama!"  
"I miss you so much," said Hotaru in a choked sob. Mamoru and Rei looked at each other, a look at communicated instantly and in complete silence:  
1) like hell was Rei the expert at comforting a sobbing child just because she was a girl  
2) That Mamoru accepted this  
3) That Mamoru had literally no relevant skills  
4) Being an international CEO/ beauty queen/ idol/ warrior space princess did nothing to prepare you for this  
5) That he had a daughter!  
6) Seriously, did she want him to get out the Tuxedo Karman puppet?  
7) Ugh men!  
While they were doing that, Makoto hugged the sobbing girl to her.  
"She'll be proud of you, wherever she is now," said Makoto, "Why don't you talk about how things are for you?"

"Papa's been better," said Hotaru, "more himself, although I don't think anyone else sees it. I mean I don't know if there's anyone else left who knew him before the... accident."  
"Maybe there is. Some old friend from years ago."  
"Ummm..."  
"I've been happier than I've been since the accident, too. I still think."  
"I mean I know now that he wasn't really papa, but I didn't know that then. And I know now, but only in my head. Not all the way."  
"I've got a new family. They do their best for me, I think, and they know that you and papa are still important to me, and they let me have space with just you. Maybe I'll bring them one day? I don't know. They don't like talking about their parents much. I brought some of my friends this time, instead, because they're the ones who I don't have to explain everything to."  
"I love you mama."

**Author's Note:**

> So, when I wrote this there was 4 works tagged "Hino Risa", 0 tagged "Tomoe Keiko" ( I think there is one relevant story, but the character tag didn't get used), and as far as I can tell no one has done anything with Mamoru or Makoto's parents, and it just seemed a huge gap.


End file.
